Search found 51 matches

by gordtheseeker
Thu Dec 29, 2016 5:50 am
Forum: Pure Land
Topic: Practicing solo
Replies: 15
Views: 4610

Re: Practicing solo

Please forgive my ignorance, but what is the 10 x 10 method? Thank you. It's a method I heard of in Chinese pureland through a fairly famous nun, venerable wuling. It involves reciting the nembutsu 10 times only but repeating it 10 times / day. Basically you're constantly reminding yourself to be m...
by gordtheseeker
Mon Mar 07, 2016 5:49 pm
Forum: Soto
Topic: Treasury of the True Dharma Eye
Replies: 13
Views: 7263

Re: Treasury of the True Dharma Eye

I'm still on the fence about Dogen's work. I just don't want to buy a big, expensive volume if I'm not going to understand what I'm reading. My mind is thoroughly Westernized :thinking: , scholastic even. All of my deeper reading has been of Reformed Scholastic theologians so I really struggle with...
by gordtheseeker
Mon Mar 07, 2016 4:28 am
Forum: Soto
Topic: Treasury of the True Dharma Eye
Replies: 13
Views: 7263

Re: Treasury of the True Dharma Eye

I am also going to take this opportunity to recommend a new book by my Dharma Brother Brad Warner, although a much lighter and more reverently irreverent take on Dogen and Shobogenzo, and although I am only about 1/3 through at this point. Dogen takes bits of the Shobo, rewords the whole thing in l...
by gordtheseeker
Mon Mar 07, 2016 4:23 am
Forum: Introductions
Topic: howdy
Replies: 5
Views: 1910

Re: howdy

Welcome! :spy:
by gordtheseeker
Thu Oct 29, 2015 4:22 pm
Forum: Pure Land
Topic: Attachment to previous practices
Replies: 10
Views: 3098

Re: Attachment to previous practices

Good thread. Find myself in similar space. Try a variety of religious practices, but eventually they all fail and I am back to the nembutsu. :woohoo:
by gordtheseeker
Sat Oct 24, 2015 5:22 am
Forum: Pure Land
Topic: Benefits of Nembutsu In This Very Life
Replies: 88
Views: 80906

Re: Benefits of Nembutsu In This Very Life

i took my two year old daughter on the bus today to her physical therapy appointment. i was holding her close to me and saying the nembutsu the whole way. that's what the nembutsu meant to me in that moment, my buddha-nature connecting to hers. i told a sensei about this, and he said it's one of th...
by gordtheseeker
Fri Oct 23, 2015 2:18 pm
Forum: Nichiren
Topic: Basics of Nichiren practice?
Replies: 13
Views: 4371

Re: Basics of Nichiren practice?

Also, I am compelled by the writings of the patriarch Nichiren to inform you that you are making a huge mistake, that turning away from the Lotus Sutra will potentially haunt you for eons, and that you will probably dance around in hell. Do come back if you ever start getting all existential. Gassh...
by gordtheseeker
Fri Oct 23, 2015 2:15 pm
Forum: Nichiren
Topic: Basics of Nichiren practice?
Replies: 13
Views: 4371

Re: Basics of Nichiren practice?

Would be interested in a non religious practice like you suggested. I used to do a lot of zazen when I was an atheist and found it quite beneficial. A few people have reported negative experiences with mindfulness meditation. I have heard people quit and say that it made them callous or unfeeling. ...
by gordtheseeker
Fri Oct 23, 2015 1:11 am
Forum: Nichiren
Topic: Basics of Nichiren practice?
Replies: 13
Views: 4371

Re: Basics of Nichiren practice?

Would be interested in a non religious practice like you suggested. I used to do a lot of zazen when I was an atheist and found it quite beneficial.
by gordtheseeker
Wed Oct 21, 2015 9:43 pm
Forum: Nichiren
Topic: Basics of Nichiren practice?
Replies: 13
Views: 4371

Re: Basics of Nichiren practice?

Queequeg wrote:
gordtheseeker wrote: What do you folks think about the reading of the 2nd and 16th chapters of the Lotus Sutra in Japanese?
I find it easier to chant in Kanbun/Shindoku.
Why not read them in English? :reading:
Sure. Why not?
Hehe sounds good. I will try that! :D
by gordtheseeker
Wed Oct 21, 2015 4:13 pm
Forum: Nichiren
Topic: Basics of Nichiren practice?
Replies: 13
Views: 4371

Re: Basics of Nichiren practice?

Looked around and found lots of info. Some great free books and articles, etc so I think i'm good. Feel free to let this thread fall. Thanks! Please come back and tell us about your practice, and any experiences you have practicing. :namaste: So far I like the chanting. Find it relaxing and it chil...
by gordtheseeker
Fri Oct 16, 2015 5:41 pm
Forum: Nichiren
Topic: Basic questions about Nichiren
Replies: 84
Views: 20476

Re: Basic questions about Nichiren

Nichiren taught that the greatest practice is reading the Lotus Sutra with your body. I understand this as going beyond just mouthing the words, but living the teaching in your thoughts, words and deeds. It goes without saying, that if you want to chant throughout the day, go ahead - sometimes it m...
by gordtheseeker
Fri Oct 16, 2015 2:51 pm
Forum: Nichiren
Topic: Basic questions about Nichiren
Replies: 84
Views: 20476

Re: Basic questions about Nichiren

Thought i would post this here instead of starting a new thread. Is it considered proper to practice chanting throughout the day? Like in your car or while at the gym (perhaps quietly so you don't disturb others). I see lots about the practice in morning and evening, but little about practice throug...
by gordtheseeker
Thu Oct 15, 2015 11:12 pm
Forum: Nichiren
Topic: Basics of Nichiren practice?
Replies: 13
Views: 4371

Re: Basics of Nichiren practice?

Looked around and found lots of info. Some great free books and articles, etc so I think i'm good. Feel free to let this thread fall.

Thanks!
by gordtheseeker
Thu Oct 15, 2015 7:31 pm
Forum: Nichiren
Topic: Basics of Nichiren practice?
Replies: 13
Views: 4371

Basics of Nichiren practice?

Hello! I love exploring different aspects of Buddhism. I mainly have spent my most effort in Zen and Pureland. I stumbled across Nichiren recently and am interested how to practice it. Is it basically the chant to start out with? I love the Pureland Nembutsu and the simplicity of it. Chanting also s...
by gordtheseeker
Wed Oct 14, 2015 2:30 pm
Forum: Pure Land
Topic: Benefits of Nembutsu In This Very Life
Replies: 88
Views: 80906

Re: Benefits of Nembutsu In This Very Life

Three important things the Nembutsu encourages are humility, self-acceptance, and compassion. I am a foolish being, incapable of attaining Buddhahood by my own power alone (and foolish for many other reasons as well.) There is this great ocean of compassion which accepts me just as I am. I will the...
by gordtheseeker
Thu Mar 20, 2014 9:47 pm
Forum: Engaged Buddhism
Topic: Climate Change: We're Doomed
Replies: 871
Views: 173714

Re: Climate Change: We're Doomed

Newspaper headline in 2143... Earth May Be Doomed Soon! Scientists of the Federated Solar Initiative reported today that after much research and calculations by the Neptune Mathematics Collective, Earth is on course for a social and biological collapse in the next 5-10 years...... that said I don't ...
by gordtheseeker
Wed Mar 19, 2014 5:52 pm
Forum: Pure Land
Topic: Pure Land location
Replies: 34
Views: 6703

Re: Pure Land location

I imagine it is located in our unconscious. It becomes easier to find as you do the nembutsu and other meditation. I don't think it's a physical place.
by gordtheseeker
Sun Mar 16, 2014 5:29 am
Forum: Pure Land
Topic: Can nienfo be a type of (beneficial) meditation as well?
Replies: 18
Views: 6062

Re: Can nienfo be a type of (beneficial) meditation as well?

I think it can be a very handy mediation to use in times when a more formal mediation isn't possible. I like to do zazen, but there is not always time. There is always time for Namu Amida Butsu though. :smile:
by gordtheseeker
Mon May 27, 2013 7:55 pm
Forum: Zen
Topic: Practicing Zen without a teacher
Replies: 10
Views: 5143

Re: Practicing Zen without a teacher

I am reading Shut Up and Sit Down and the author mentions (based on Dogens' words) that while one can practice zazen without a teacher, one should not practice Buddhism without a teacher. The example given is when a person thinks they have figured something out, a teacher is there to say "good ...

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